Thailand seeks help from UN, ADB to fight drug problem
Justice Minister Paiboon Koomchaya yesterday asked the United Nations and Asian Development Bank to help block the smuggling of precursor chemicals from source countries.
Paiboon met with Jeremy Douglas, regional representative of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to discuss several issues related to drug trafficking.
They talked about international efforts to stop production and smuggling of chemical precursors, joint cooperation between UNODC and Thailand’s Department of Special Investigation, as well as providing proper training to investigators.
The UN has asked Thailand to also provide training to drug investigators in the neighbouring countries of Laos and Myanmar.
Paiboon said Thailand was mapping its second-stage operation plan to tackle the drug problem in the Asean region.
“We need cooperation from concerned agencies, and especially funding from the ADB and the UN to ensure security in this region,” he said.
Representatives of the UNODC and the Office of Narcotics Control Board recently joined forces to check economic routes linking South China with Thailand and Myanmar, and learned that there were issues that need to be tackled by the three countries together.
Thailand will host a meeting on April 28-29 to draw up measures to prevent the production of precursor chemicals as well as implement agricultural projects to replace crops that can be used in the production of narcotics.
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